Habituation of feelings?

andreat April 24, 2020 at 18:39 1725 views 4 comments

Hi, just wondering what people think about how we perceive and categorize something as "beautiful" or "unpleasant/fearful" when considering familiarity.

Does knowing something or someone, that is, being familiar, lessens beauty? We might be able to acknowledge it but are we as capable of appreciating something/someone if we have been exposed to it several times? Or are our senses dampened? Like when we are exposed to light/noises/tactile stimuli and our senses become habituated, could we talk about a certain habituation of feelings?

And what about something of opposite valence, if something is atrocious/traumatizing, can repeated exposure reduce fear/distaste or does it make it worse?

Comments (4)

aporiap April 24, 2020 at 19:09 #405176 0 likes

I think there's a lot going on feeling-wise when you first look at something new and beautiful. There's satisfaction and interest you feel from just the sheer novelty of it, then there's the associations of people, places, and things that get conjured up with the viewing of that thing, and the unique conglomerate of feelings those associations trigger when experienced together, and then theres the raw pleasurable feeling of looking at something harmonious geometrically.

I think with familiarity you loose the sense of novelty and you may also gain new or modified associations with that object or person which can lesson the sum positive feeling you feel when looking at that thing. I think the physical beauty itself, alone stays constant to the degree it's distinct from the associations

andreat April 24, 2020 at 19:34 #405191 0 likes

Thank you for your input, perhaps we categorize feelings depending on what we are dealing with, for example with someone we might develop fonder feelings (or not), as you mention new associations, as we get to know them more and likewise for places/objects we might either like them more or get bored of them with repeated exposure.
I noticed that even if there are places I know I really like (I acknowledge their beauty) if I visit them too often I feel as if the sensed/perceived beauty isn't quiet the same...might be the fading of the novelty effect?

aporiap April 24, 2020 at 21:35 #405265 0 likes

Reply to andreat
It sounds like you are making synonymous 'beauty' and 'like' with the parentheses comment. What do you mean by beauty in the OP? Things you like or things you find aesthetically beautiful?

andreat April 24, 2020 at 22:22 #405282 0 likes

I guess we define what we find beautiful, true that some things might be more widely recognized as beautiful hence less subjective, but by liking something we find some beauty in it. I meant more generally that when we perceive beauty we might like the object/place/person but through repeated exposure we might experience some "numbness" even though we might still acknowledge its beauty.